Bewitched Page 6

  The girl wore faded blue jeans and a small jacket over a purple t-shirt. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she stood about five foot six.

  As she began to turn, holding her books tightly against her chest, Darren’s mind filled in the face. This couldn’t be happening, but he knew as soon as she headed down the aisle, it was going to be a repeat of yesterday. She’d dissolve to transparency and float to the ceiling where she’d hover during class, and he’d be the only one who could see her.

  Suddenly she was facing their direction, smiling.

  It was her all right. Her eyes were green and just as vibrant as he remembered them. She didn’t float, although she did seem to glide. Time warped as she moved in slow motion. Then, all too suddenly, she was in front of him.

  “Hi,” she said and sat down.

  Darren couldn’t move; he just stared at the back of her head.

  Mike swatted his arm with the back of his hand. “Hello, Darren. Come in.”

  “Shh!” Darren fumbled with his folder.

  “Are you kidding me?” Mike asked, watching his reaction. “Is this the little floater from yesterday?”

  “Shut up, Mike!”

  Mike smiled and tapped the new girl on the shoulder. “Excuse me.” The girl turned around. “My name’s Mike Conklin, and this is my friend,” Mike nodded over to his left, “Darren Stevens. Now, here’s the kooky part. He thinks he saw you floating in the gymnasium yesterday during our basketball game. I just need to ask, was it you floating in the gym yesterday, or is Darren mistaken?”

  The girl laughed. “You’re cute, and so is your friend. But, sorry, no, I wasn’t floating anywhere yesterday. We were busy moving in. My name’s Samantha.” She stuck out her hand. Mike shook it. She turned to Darren, who was examining her face, afraid to move.

  Mike jabbed him. “Don’t be rude, Darren. Say hello to the young lady.”

  Darren’s arm moved forward, and he shook her hand. It felt real, not ghostlike. As a matter of fact, it felt very nice. She smiled at him as they shook, and a pleasant thrill passed through him. It wasn’t the thrill he would normally experience when meeting a very attractive girl. It was sort of like that, but there was something else as well, a sort of a frisson that shot up his spine. It was hard to identify. Not unpleasant, but it seemed to have, if this made any sense at all, a wariness about it, as if this was an important event in his life, a turning point, possibly even a warning.

  “His name’s Darren,” Mike repeated.

  “Yeah, my name’s Darren. Nice to meet you.”

  The bell rang, interrupting their introductions. Samantha turned around as the other students settled into their desks. Mr. Whitmore cleared his throat, his signal that informally called the class to order.

  “All right, it appears our two star athletes have met our new student.” He pointed to the back of the class. “In any case, Samantha Spelling has moved here from Massachusetts. It’s nice to have you with us, Samantha. Now, if everyone will open up to page 113, let’s continue with our reading of The Crucible.”

  The class dutifully opened their books to the requested page. Mr. Whitmore assigned roles, and the remainder of the class was spent reading through the play with Mr. Whitmore filling in the gaps with interesting bits of information.

  Darren had a hard time concentrating. He wanted to reach out and touch Samantha and make sure she was real. Her handshake had been real enough. At one point during class, she slumped down and her hair spilled across his desk. It was beautiful. He inched a finger forward and picked up a few strands, letting them fall through his fingers. It was silky and smooth, and he could smell the subtle fragrance of her shampoo. The hair’s sheen caught the light at certain angles causing it to glint off random strands. He moved his head into various positions, watching the glint change from one spot to another. As he obsessed over the way the light played with her hair, he had a sudden feeling overtake him and turned guiltily toward Mike.

  Sure enough his friend was watching him, his eyebrows raised in a dramatic expression. He pointed at Darren and then at Samantha, while puckering up with kissy lips. Darren retracted his hand quickly, sat back in his seat, and felt his face burn. He stared at the textbook with absolutely no idea where the class was.

  When the bell rang, the students hopped up, quickly heading for the door. Samantha turned to Darren and Mike. “It was nice meeting you. Maybe we’ll have some more classes together.”

  They both waved and watched her leave.

  “What was the deal with the hair touchy thing?” Mike grinned at his friend. “I thought you had a girlfriend.”

  “I had to make sure she was real.” Darren knew it sounded stupid, but it just came out.

  Mike chuckled. “Well, was she? She looked pretty real to me. How’d she feel?”

  “She’s real.”

  As they left class, Mike continued to snicker. “Dude, I haven’t seen you this weirded out over a girl ever. Are you a bit smitten by any chance?”

  “Smitten?”

  “Yeah, you know, got the hots for, twitterpated, in love, lust, whatever?”

  Darren sighed. “I’ll see you at lunch.” He headed down the hall to his second period class.

  Mike laughed and headed in the other direction, shaking his head. “Yep, he’s in trouble.”

  In his other classes, Darren wasn’t quite sure what took place. He took notes, he listened, sort of, but it was all very mechanical. His mind was on Samantha. She was real, not a ghost. Okay, but then how had he imagined her yesterday? She was the same girl; there was no doubt about it. And, yeah, she was cute, too. But that didn’t matter. Something unusual was going on. Unless he was mistaken. Maybe he just thought she looked the same.

  But that wasn’t it. She had the green eyes, the blonde hair, and if she were wearing a flowing black dress, she’d be identical.

  These thoughts bothered him until lunch. He decided he’d let it fall, forget it. He couldn’t do anything about it, and he wasn’t crazy. At least, if he didn’t think about it, it was easier to believe he wasn’t losing his mind.

  Bumping through the crowd, Darren jumped in line with Mike, effectively butting, but the other students jostling about covered his move. “Hey, look at me. I’m back to normal.”

  “You’ve never been normal.” Mike picked up a tray as they reached the counter.

  “Well, I’m back to being me. I can look at Samantha and not have a panic attack. She only looked like the mirage I saw yesterday, and that’s all it was.”

  Mike grabbed his silverware and handed some to Darren. “All right. You’re back to normal. Now, tell me the truth. You totally have the hots for Samantha, don’t you?”

  “I have a girlfriend,” Darren protested. “In any case, you think she’s hot too, don’t you?”

  “Samantha or Andrea?”

  “You know which one I meant.”

  “But the important thing is you do think she’s hot!” Mike nudged Darren’s arm, causing the applesauce he was picking up to slosh around on its way to his tray.

  “Mike, you know what I like about you?”

  “I used to think it was my eyes, but if you’re being honest, I’m sure you’re going to tell me it’s my personality.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s your uncanny ability to make me feel like busting you in the face.”

  They approached the table they typically occupied along with the group that hung out at Tony’s. Darren sat next to Andrea, and Mike sat on his other side.

  Andrea hooked a thumb toward Mike. “What’s he laughing at?”

  “He’s high on life. He laughs at everything. How are the posters coming along?”

  More than happy to tell Darren about what she was working on, Andrea allowed herself to be led into the new conversation. “Oh, you’re going to love this!” Her dark eyes flashed with excitement, and her face flushed.

  Darren smiled at how cute she suddenly appeared.

  “Lindsey and I had
this great idea to photograph the basketball players and have the pictures made into life-size cardboard cut-outs that stand on their own. Then, at the top of their heads will be thought bubbles with funny things written on them or information about the upcoming state championship games.”

  Mike leaned across Darren and interjected. “Only problem is Darren’s bubble will be empty, because there’s nothing in here.” He knocked on Darren’s head.

  Tony and T.J. chuckled, and Seth’s face split with a half-smile, which for him was the equivalent of a fairly loud chortle. Lindsey and Shelly shared a giggle as well. Even Darren allowed himself to enjoy the humor at his expense.

  Then, a peculiar sensation prickled Darren’s spine, like a touch of cold air blown down the back of his shirt. He sat up in a rigid posture, knowing if he glanced over at the lunchroom door, Samantha would be there.

  Samantha smiled across the lunchroom at him. She coyly turned away, but continued to smile as if she knew a secret.

  Noticing what had transpired between the two of them, Mike rapped Darren a good one on the head one more time. “Dude, there really is nothing in here.”

  “Leave him alone, Mike!” Andrea said. “He isn’t Mr. Kung Fu like you. He’s not as used to having blows to the head.”

  “That’s Taekwondo,” Mike corrected her. “And typically we’re not hitting each other in the head... we’re kicking each other in the head.” Once again everyone at the table snickered, except for Andrea who smirked at him.

  “Just leave this head alone, will you?” She hugged Darren’s head, which brought cat calls from the boys.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Darren replied. “You all wish it were you!”

  “Are you coming over tonight?” Andrea asked. Her large brown eyes were mesmerizing sometimes.

  “Yeah, after I get a chance to check on Atavus. He had an attack last night. He couldn’t stop coughing. Mom was able to calm him down, get him back on his oxygen.”

  “But he’s okay now?”

  “I think so, but I want to check on him.”

  “Hey!” T.J., who’d been attentively listening, suddenly jumped to his feet. “Keep your fries on your own plate, you greasy sleaze ball!” He hurled a mashed end of a fat fry across the aisle at Samuelson, a trouble-making junior engaged in a not-so subtle food fight with some boys at another table.

  “I hate that punk,” Seth growled into his lunch.

  “Easy, Seth,” Darren said. “Don’t do anything that will keep you from playing in the state game.”

  “Besides,” Mike said. “He’ll get his. He’s not that clever. Eventually Julander will catch him.” He referred to the vice-principal they all hated, who shared no great love for Darren and his friends. “And Julander doesn’t take any prisoners.”

  “That’s for sure.” Tony lounged back in his chair and dumped his size twelve Nikes on the table.

  “It better be soon,” Seth rumbled under his breath.

  “Why so upset?” T.J. asked. “He didn’t hit you with a fry.”

  “It was close to me. He bothers me. He always has.” Shelley put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it.

  Darren watched Seth stir the ketchup on his plate as if it offended him, worried Seth’s temper would blow at any minute. Over Seth’s right shoulder, Darren was drawn by a flash of blonde hair.

  Samantha was making her way toward their table carrying a tray of food. She was completely unaware of the on-again off-again war of flying food between the tables. As she reached the nexus where the food war was raging, fat wads of fries from both tables shot across the breach. Samantha seemed oblivious to the exchange of projectiles.

  Neither Samuelson nor the opposing faction, three sophomores at an opposite table, had expected Samantha to cross at the next moment. Darren was transfixed as she entered the hot zone, only a microsecond away from being covered in greasy potato fragments from both sides.

  Samantha walked straight through the assault, her eyes locked on Darren. She briefly covered her nose to sneeze. At the same moment, an unmistakable shudder ran through Darren, like an ice cube skittering down his spine. The fry-throwing combatants’ arms began their trajectory forward. As the boys prepared to release handfuls of food, each flew backward like an invisible rug had been ripped out from beneath them. They hit the ground simultaneously, their fries flying up into the air and coming back down into their own faces. They scrambled back to their feet, scraping potato muck from their eyes and looking around bewildered. Other students at nearby tables pointed and laughed, happy to see fate turn the tables on them.

  “Did you seek that?” Mike snorted. “That was incredible!”

  T.J. and Tony were already laughing so hard they started to slip from their chairs. Seth’s shoulders shook up and down in quiet laughter. The girls at their table tittered, too, at the strange but satisfying incident of the flying fries.

  Samantha, however, hadn’t seemed to notice a thing. She walked toward their table, smiling with her eyes locked on Darren. “Can I join you?”

  Darren gazed into her green eyes and swallowed hard. He glanced quickly at Andrea, realized that was a mistake, and turned back to Samantha. Mike saved him by jumping up and offering Samantha his seat. “Sit here. I’m done anyway.”

  Samantha took the seat graciously, flanking Darren with two beautiful girls. Darren glared dangerously at Mike who pulled a seat up from an adjoining table and plopped himself down between T.J. and Seth. Mike caught Darren’s stare, but he only ducked his head, hiding a grin.

  “I’m Andrea.” She leaned around Darren and smiled at Samantha. “Are you new to Sky View? I haven’t seen you before.”

  “Today’s my first day. My name’s Samantha Spelling. I met Darren and Mike in first period this morning.”

  “Darren, you didn’t say anything about meeting Samantha.” Andrea glared accusingly at Darren.

  “Yeah, just met her in English this morning,” Darren mumbled before pushing food into his mouth.

  “Where are you from Samantha?” Andrea asked.

  “Massachusetts. I moved here with my great-aunt. She has a brother that lives nearby, so we moved out west to be closer to him. He set my aunt up with a house and some work she can do from home; she’s really old.”

  “Where are your parents?” T.J. asked.

  “My parents died when I was young. I’ve been raised by my great-aunt since I was four years old. How about you? Are you all from around here?”

  Everyone said they were from Cache Valley or round about. Their parents had all grown up in the area as well.

  “Stevens!” The booming voice startled Darren, who hadn’t seen the vice-principal come up behind him. He had Samuelson in tow, looking sullen and petulant. “There was a food fight in here earlier. I understand some food flew from this table. Know anything about that?”

  For reasons Darren couldn’t understand, Julander hated him. The vice-principal was huge, but not in a muscular way. He had a humongous gut and bald head that made him appear as if he had no neck, just a head that widened at the bottom as it joined his flabby body. He wore dark horn-rimmed glasses that made Darren think of him as Jabba-the-Hut with astigmatism. It was rumored he had once played football and killed another student. No telling where that rumor had come from since Julander appeared at Sky View Darren’s first year. From day one, if Julander had an opportunity, he accused Darren of things and suspected him of things he was unconnected to. Now, it was the food fight.

  “No, I do not,” Darren said, with a tinge of righteous indignation.

  “Uh-huh.” Julander grunted dubiously. “Being an athlete doesn’t give you privileges, Stevens.” He glared down at Darren, the message clear: I’m watching your every move.

  The oversized administrator waved his fat forefinger at the others. “And the rest of you as well. I don’t tolerate misconduct!” He paused when he saw Samantha. “Oh, no, not another one. Don’t tell me he’s got a new squeeze.” He squinted at Samantha with his beady eyes.

&
nbsp; “What’s a squeeze?” Samantha asked innocently.

  The boys at the table hid their grins. Mike said, “He saying you’re Darren’s new girlfriend.”

  Nodding appreciatively, Samantha replied to the administrator, “Not yet, but I’m working on it.” She returned his glare with remarkable aplomb and smiled. The rest of the table broke into laughter. With the exception of Andrea.

  Bending down into Samantha’s face, Julander growled. “You do not want to get on my bad side.” His nostrils flared, and his beady eyes bore into her.

  “Which side would that be?” she asked.

  “Young lady, I am not someone you want as an enemy!”

  The table was now as quiet as a funeral parlor with similar disquieting feelings being shared all around. Those at nearby tables also became quiet as they nervously watched the drama unfold.

  “That’s true, sir. I’m sorry I didn’t understand,” Samantha said, attempting to smooth out the situation. “Perhaps we could bury an axe?”

  Mike couldn’t stifle the laugh that fought to break free, and a snort escaped him. As soon as that happened, the rest of the table broke up.

  Julander grew as red as an oven coil, and steam seemed to billow all around him.

  “What is your name?” Julander accented each word like he was biting them off of something.

  Samantha cheerfully responded, “My name’s Samantha. What’s yours?” She stuck her hand out for him to shake as if this was all a pleasant introduction. More stifled snickers popped up around the table.

  “I’ll remember the name.” His voice was low and feral. He stalked off, swinging his bulk from side to side and dragging Samuelson behind him. The gangly young man did his best to keep up.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” Darren said.

  “That was excellent,” Mike echoed.

  “I don’t understand,” Samantha said. “What did I do?”

  “What did you do?” Darren repeated. “You upset the most dangerous man in America.”

  T.J. smiled across the table at her. “Well done! Welcome to the team. T.J., and you are?”

  “Samantha Spelling,” she replied, a dimple to the side of her eye appeared when she smiled. Darren found it very cute.